The real Dame !

Some films achieve the inexplicable "art" status by being beautiful,
true, as well as emotionally touching, independently of the actors,
plot or cinematography. It's as if the film rose from its "material
support" so to speak, and you could really see the film as close to how
the artist intended it to be. This is one of those rare cases.

We all know the story, but in this case Huppert and the director
Bolognini make this stand out from the rest. You will probably have
strong feelings for Alphonsine, who plays with the bad cards life has
given to her, from her pimp father to her ill health. IMDb reviewer
Gerald A. DeLuca is right that there is a sort of "didactic" hammering
on our main character spitting blood. Quibbles aside, this superb film
is just perfect.

Psychoanalytically it also has interesting things to say, like Plessis
treating her daughter like yet another man/ suitor at times, or when
she goes to live to the rich man's palace, she is given his MOTHER's
room (not his own).

Cinematography does help, as does montage (the scene with Alphonsine in
ecstasy followed by the slaughterhouse where she drinks blood, for
instance). Of course the classical score, based on Verdi's Traviata but
also drawing from other sources, heightens the story. All the male
characters become supporting ones compared to Huppert, but of course
they are excellent. G. M. Volonté in particular. Wait and see.

Don't miss this film! Utterly enjoyable XIX century melodrama!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Love, life

La storia vera della signora delle camelie or the "real" story of La
Dame aux Camélias is also based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils.
The tragic love story of a poor writer who falls in love with a
courtesan. Only Marie Duplessis is now called 'Alphonsine' instead of
Camille (Greta Garbo film), Violetta (opera) or Marguerite
(book/ballet).

The settings are raw in the beginning and beautiful splendor in the
end. It's a consistent view of a woman who wants to get a better life.
The conversations aren't romantic and some scenes actually show you
what a 'courtesan' does for a living. Something the other versions
don't.

Isabelle Huppert as Alphonsine looks meek, even subdue and bored but
what fascinated me about her acting was the passion that's there ...
somewhere. She depicts a person who at first takes this profession as a
way to survive and then later on takes delight in the power she has
over men and the money she earns with it. Yes, she's ill and it's shown
frequently, trying to get a sympathy vote. What remains tragic is the
fact that she can't hold on to her life, both profession as -Life-.

It's my favorite film version of La Dame aux Camélias. The 8 rate is
due Huppert's performance. The slowness in the movie and my dislike of
the actors was the reason for the original 7 rate and the only reason I
don't rate it a 9 because I watched it a couple of times.

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8 out of 30 people found the following review useful:

Blurb.

Mauro Bolognini's THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS is a French-Italian
co-production. It gives us the "true" demystified story of one of French
literature's most famous courtesans and who was the basis of many later
variations including Verdi's Violetta in LA TRAVIATA and Greta Garbo's
Camille. The premise is excellent, by the execution is marred by the
presence of Isabelle Huppert in the title role. She seems just too scant
and
passive to be the self-sacrificing femme-fatale she is supposed to be
portraying. And although the settings and decor are nothing short of
superb
(always dependable in Bolognini's films like THE INHERITANCE and LA GRANDE
BOURGEOISE), little is gained by the constant clinical insistence on
Alphonsine's genuine sickness (she is constantly coughing up blood for our
edification) and by the unconvincing delineation of her relationships with
her suitors. The film is very much worth seeing if for no other reason
than
to compare it with other better versions of the story, perhaps the
Zeffirelli film version of the opera, with Teresa Stratas and Placido
Domingo.